The crux of the Te’o story, of course, is whether Te’o conspired to fabricate his seemingly tragic relationship with imaginary girlfriend Lennay Kekua or whether he is a victim of a cruel hoax.

Much is at stake — or so we are told. If Te’o proves to be a willing participant in a hoax, NFL scouts will question his character and downgrade his stock in the upcoming NFL draft. For those who care, Deadspin has some excellent reporting on this story — better reporting, in fact, than anyone in the major media has done on that other Hawaiian fabricator of girlfriends, Barack Obama.